Post by CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations)

For an interview with France's L'Express, CEPI’s Deputy CEO, Aurélia Nguyen, reflects on the growing role of artificial intelligence in epidemic and pandemic preparedness. AI is already helping accelerate vaccine design, making it possible to identify targets and optimise candidates far more quickly than before. Indeed, CEPI’s own Pandemic Preparedness Engine seeks to apply AI across the full preparedness chain - from surveillance and anticipating emerging threats to vaccine design, clinical trials and regulatory pathways - to accelerate future responses. But the rise of AI also raises important questions about future biosecurity risks. These same tools could, in time, be misused to design biological threats. As Aurélia explains, however, what doesn’t change is the response. Whether a threat is natural, accidental or deliberate, the goal remains the same: to develop safe, effective vaccines in as little as 100 days. Through CEPI 3.0, CEPI is working with partners to turn that ambition into an operational reality, strengthening the systems and capabilities needed to respond faster and more equitably, regardless of how they arise. The article also explores what preparedness looks like in practice, from tracking high-risk threats like H5N1, to advancing multiple vaccine platforms and ensuring vaccines can be developed and accessed more equitably. Read more (note: article is paywalled and published in French): https://lnkd.in/eX43u54c